τὴν δὲ ἀκρόπολιν Λάρισαν μὲν καλοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῆς Πελασγοῦ θυγατρός· ἀπὸ ταύτης δὲ καὶ δύο τῶν ἐν Θεσσαλίᾳ πόλεων, ἥ τε ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ καὶ ἡ παρὰ τὸν Πηνειόν, ὠνομάσθησαν. ἀνιόντων δὲ ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἔστι μὲν τῆς Ἀκραίας Ἥρας τὸ ἱερόν, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ναὸς Ἀπόλλωνος, ὃν Πυθαεὺς πρῶτος παραγενόμενος ἐκ Δελφῶν λέγεται ποιῆσαι. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τὸ νῦν χαλκοῦν ἐστιν ὀρθόν, Δειραδιώτης Ἀπόλλων καλούμενος, ὅτι καὶ ὁ τόπος οὗτος καλεῖται Δειράς. ἡ δέ οἱ μαντικὴ—μαντεύεται γὰρ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς— καθέστηκε τρόπον τοῦτον. γυνὴ μὲν προφητεύουσά ἐστιν, ἀνδρὸς εὐνῆς εἰργομένη· θυομένης δὲ ἐν νυκτὶ ἀρνὸς κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον, γευσαμένη δὴ τοῦ αἵματος ἡ γυνὴ κάτοχος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεται.
τοῦ Δειραδιώτου δὲ Ἀπόλλωνος ἔχεται μὲν ἱερὸν Ἀθηνᾶς Ὀξυδερκοῦς καλουμένης, Διομήδους ἀνάθημα, ὅτι οἱ μαχομένῳ ποτὲ ἐν Ἰλίῳ τὴν ἀχλὺν ἀφεῖλεν ἡ θεὸς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν· ἔχεται δὲ τὸ στάδιον, ἐν ᾧ τὸν ἀγῶνα τῷ Νεμείῳ Διὶ καὶ τὰ Ἡραῖα ἄγουσιν. ἐς δὲ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἰοῦσίν ἐστιν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῶν Αἰγύπτου παίδων καὶ ταύτῃ μνῆμα. χωρὶς μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων ἐνταῦθα αἱ κεφαλαί, χωρὶς δὲ ἐν Λέρνῃ σώματα τὰ λοιπά· ἐν Λέρνῃ γὰρ καὶ ὁ φόνος ἐξειργάσθη τῶν νεανίσκων, ἀποθανόντων δὲ ἀποτέμνουσιν αἱ γυναῖκες τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀπόδειξιν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ὧν ἐτόλμησαν.
ἐπʼ ἄκρᾳ δέ ἐστι τῇ Λαρίσῃ Διὸς ἐπίκλησιν Λαρισαίου ναός, οὐκ ἔχων ὄροφον· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ξύλου πεποιημένον οὐκέτι ἑστηκὸς ἦν ἐπὶ τῷ βάθρῳ. καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς δὲ ναός ἐστι θέας ἄξιος· ἐνταῦθα ἀναθήματα κεῖται καὶ ἄλλα καὶ Ζεὺς ξόανον, δύο μὲν ᾗ πεφύκαμεν ἔχον ὀφθαλμούς, τρίτον δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου. τοῦτον τὸν Δία Πριάμῳ φασὶν εἶναι τῷ Λαομέδοντος πατρῷον ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τῆς αὐλῆς ἱδρυμένον, καὶ ὅτε ἡλίσκετο ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Ἴλιον, ἐπὶ τούτου κατέφυγεν ὁ Πρίαμος τὸν βωμόν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ λάφυρα ἐνέμοντο, λαμβάνει Σθένελος ὁ Καπανέως αὐτόν, καὶ ἀνάκειται μὲν διὰ τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα·
τρεῖς δὲ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῷδε ἄν τις τεκμαίροιτο αὐτόν. Δία γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ βασιλεύειν, οὗτος μὲν λόγος κοινὸς πάντων ἐστὶν ἀνθρώπων. ὃν δὲ ἄρχειν φασὶν ὑπὸ γῆς, ἔστιν ἔπος τῶν Ὁμήρου Δία ὀνομάζον καὶ τοῦτον· Ζεύς τε καταχθόνιος καὶ ἐπαινὴ Περσεφόνεια. / Αἰσχύλος δὲ ὁ Εὐφορίωνος καλεῖ Δία καὶ τὸν ἐν θαλάσσῃ. τρισὶν οὖν ὁρῶντα ἐποίησεν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὅστις δὴ ἦν ὁ ποιήσας, ἅτε ἐν ταῖς τρισὶ ταῖς λεγομέναις λήξεσιν ἄρχοντα τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον θεόν.
ὁδοὶ δὲ ἐξ Ἄργους καὶ κατʼ ἄλλα εἰσὶ τῆς Πελοποννήσου καὶ πρὸς Ἀρκαδίας ἐπὶ Τεγέαν. ἐν δεξιᾷ δὲ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἡ Λυκώνη, δένδρα κυπαρίσσου μάλιστα ἔχουσα. ᾠκοδόμηται δὲ ἐπὶ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους Ἀρτέμιδος Ὀρθίας ἱερόν, καὶ ἀγάλματα Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Λητοῦς καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος πεποίηται λευκοῦ λίθου· Πολυκλείτου δέ φασιν εἶναι ἔργα. καταβάντων δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους αὖθίς ἐστιν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τῆς λεωφόρου ναὸς Ἀρτέμιδος.
ὀλίγον δὲ ἀπωτέρω ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ Χάον ἐστὶν ὄρος ὀνομαζόμενον, ὑπὸ δὲ αὐτῷ δένδρα πέφυκεν ἥμερα καὶ ἄνεισι τοῦ Ἐρασίνου φανερὸν ἐνταῦθα δὴ τὸ ὕδωρ· τέως δὲ ἐκ Στυμφάλου ῥεῖ τῆς Ἀρκάδων ὥσπερ ἐξ Εὐρίπου κατὰ Ἐλευσῖνα καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ θάλασσαν οἱ Ῥειτοί. πρὸς δὲ τοῦ Ἐρασίνου ταῖς κατὰ τὸ ὄρος ἐκβολαῖς Διονύσῳ καὶ Πανὶ θύουσι, τῷ Διονύσῳ δὲ καὶ ἑορτὴν ἄγουσι καλουμένην Τύρβην.
ἐπανελθοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Τεγέας ὁδόν ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ ὀνομαζομένου Τρόχου Κεγχρεαί. τὸ δὲ ὄνομα ἐφʼ ὅτῳ τῷ χωρίῳ γέγονεν, οὐ λέγουσι, πλὴν εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦτο ἄρα ὠνομάσθη διὰ τὸν Πειρήνης παῖδα Κεγχρίαν. καὶ πολυάνδρια ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν Ἀργείων νικησάντων μάχῃ Λακεδαιμονίους περὶ Ὑσιάς. τὸν δὲ ἀγῶνα τοῦτον συμβάντα εὕρισκον Ἀθηναίοις ἄρχοντος Πεισιστράτου, τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς ἑβδόμης καὶ εἰκοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος ἣν Εὐρύβοτος Ἀθηναῖος ἐνίκα στάδιον. καταβάντος δὲ ἐς τὸ χθαμαλώτερον ἐρείπια Ὑσιῶν ἐστι πόλεώς ποτε ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι, καὶ τὸ πταῖσμα Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐνταῦθα γενέσθαι λέγουσιν.
They call the acropolis Larisa after the daughter of Pelasgus, who gave her name also to two cities of Thessaly, one situated beside the sea, and the other on the river Peneus. On the way up to the acropolis is the sanctuary of Hera of the Height; also a temple of Apollo, said to have been first built by Pythaeus, who came from Delphi. The present image is a standing figure of bronze called Apollo Diradiotes, because the place also is called Diras. His mode of giving oracles—for he gives oracles to this day—is this. A woman, who is debarred from intercourse with the other sex, acts as his mouthpiece. Every month a lamb is sacrificed by night, and the woman tastes of the blood, and becomes possessed by the god.
Adjoining the temple of Apollo Diradiotes is a sanctuary of Sharp-sighted Athena, as they call her. It was dedicated by Diomede, because once when he was fighting at Ilium the goddess lifted the darkness from his eyes. Adjoining the temple of Apollo is also the stadium in which they celebrate the games in honour of Nemean Zeus and the games of Hera.
As we enter the acropolis there is on the left of the road another tomb of the sons of Aegyptus. Their heads are here, but the headless trunks are at Lerna. For the youths were butchered at Lerna, and their heads were cut off by their wives to show their father that the deed was done.
On the summit of Larisa is a temple of Larisian Zeus. The roof is gone, and the image, which is made of wood, no longer stands on its pedestal. There is also a temple of Athena which is worth seeing.
Amongst the votive offerings which it contains is a wooden image of Zeus with two eyes in the usual place, and a third eye on the forehead. They say that this Zeus was the paternal god of Priam, son of Laomedon, and stood in the courtyard under the open sky ; and when Ilium was taken by the Greeks, Priam fled for refuge to this god’s altar. In the division of the spoil Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, got this image, and that is why it stands here. The reason why it has three eyes may be conjectured to be the following. All men agree that Zeus reigns in heaven, and there is a verse of Homer which gives the name of Zeus also to the god who is said to bear rule under the earth :— Both underground Zeus and august Proserpine. Further, Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, applies the name of Zeus also to the god who dwells in the sea. So the artist, whoever he was, represented Zeus with three eyes, because it is one and the same Zeus who reigns in all the three realms of nature, as they are called. 6. Of the roads which lead from Argos to various parts of Peloponnese, one goes to Tegea in Arcadia. On the right of the road is Mount Lycone, wooded chiefly with cypresses. On the top of the mountain is built a sanctuary of Artemis of the Steep (Artemis Orthia), and there are images of Apollo, Latona, and Artemis made of white marble: they are said to be works of Polyclitus. Having descended from the mountain we see on the left of the high road a temple of Artemis.
A little farther on, to the right of the road, is a mountain named Chaon. Cultivated trees grow at the foot of it, and here the water of the Erasinus comes to the surface. Up to this point it flows underground from Stymphalus in Arcadia, just as the Rhiti, near the sea at Eleusis, flow from the Euripus. Where the Erasinus gushes in several streams from the mountain they sacrifice to Dionysus and Pan, and in honour of the former they hold a festival called Tyrbe. 8. Having returned to the road to Tegea we see Cenchreae on the right of what is called the Wheel. How Cenchreae got its name they do not say; but perhaps it too was named after Cenchreus, son of Pirene. The Argives who defeated the Lacedaemonians at Hysiae are buried at Cenchreae, each grave being shared by many men. I found that the combat took place when Pisistratus was archon at Athens, in the fourth year of the. . Olympiad in which Eurybotus, the Athenian, won the foot-race. Having descended into the lower ground you reach the ruins of Hysiae, once a city of Argolis. It was here, they say, that the Lacedaemonian defeat occurred.
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